District attorney's office reviewing part of Syracuse police investigation into a video clip showing alleged brutality

Syracuse, NY -- An internal investigation into a video that appears to show a Syracuse police officer slamming a suspect’s head against a police car is continuing, Sgt. Tom Connellan said today.

The police have turned over a part of its investigation to the Onondaga County District Attorney’s office for review, Connellan said Friday.

Reached earlier in the week, First Deputy Chief David Barrette said the department's actions regarding the officer are dependent on the DA's review.

The video, which was posted on YouTube on July 31, appears to show a Syracuse police officer slamming a man’s head into the side of a patrol car before the man, who is handcuffed, is placed in the vehicle. It was shot from the porch of a nearby residence and purports that the incident took place July 30 on Park Street near Oak Street.

Police are not identifying the officer in the video, Barrette said.

Barrette said that he believes a public announcement will be made after the DA’s office completes its review. What would be in the announcement, however, may be a little thin.

“We would be prohibited from saying there was merit (in the accusation) or what the punishment is,” Barrette said.

Because of Civil Rights Law 50-a, the public may never know the outcome. The law, which has been on the books since 1976, keeps private the personnel records of police officers, firefighters and corrections officers.

The point behind the law is to avoid a situation in which a police officer is called to testify in court and might be embarrassed by a lawyer bringing up reprimands in his personnel records, according to Robert Freeman, executive director of the New York State Committee on Open Government.

The law blocks citizens from finding out the names of reprimanded officers, how many times an officer has been reprimanded, the rules or laws broken and the number of reprimands an officer may have received.